


A Christmas Story

by Sweetss80



Series: A winter's tale [1]
Category: SS-GB (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Christmas, M/M, happy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 23:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13111212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetss80/pseuds/Sweetss80
Summary: Douglas Archer prepares Christmas with his son. However, Christmas also reminds him of his deceased wife and sometimes he finds it difficult to deal with. His son Douggie however, gives him a lesson in life as well as Oskar Huth. Moreover, he gets a visit from an unexpected guest.





	1. A preparation for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Residesatshamecentral](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Residesatshamecentral/gifts).



> This is my first fic written in English. As my bio say: I'm not a native speaker (I am Dutch) so please don't judge too hard about my possible language and grammar mistakes.
> 
> Many, many thanks to Residesatshamecentral for sharing some great ideas for writing this story!

"Douggie ... ..Douggie! Be careful what you do with the Christmas tree. Look out!"

Archer kept a close eye on his son. His son was so enthusiastically with the Christmas ornaments that the branches swerved dangerously back and forth.

They spent the whole day decorating the house with Christmas decorations. Not too exuberant - in view of the circumstances it wouldn’t be entirely appropriate - but tasteful and with a real Christmas tree in the middle of the living room. Archer thought back of the time when Jill was still alive and she always provided a homely and warm Christmas ambiance in their house.

The decoration of the Christmas tree was almost finished. The tree looked beautiful with the lights, garlands and ornaments on the lower branches. Douggie took care of hanging the Christmas balls  on the middle branches. The upper part of the tree had still to be decorated. His son couldn’t reach it with his small height.

"Douggie, take a break and take something to drink for yourself. I'll decorate the upper part of the tree," said Archer.

"Okay dad! If you would let me put the peak on the tree? Please? " Douggie looked at his father questioningly. Archer smiled. "Of course, I'll call you when I'm ready."

Archer walked back to the living room and took a ladder to better access the upper branches.

The boxes with Christmas balls he had put within reach.

For some time Archer was concentrating on decorating the tree. He just wanted to take a new box of Christmas balls when he misunderstood. He looked back over his shoulder. 

“Douglas Archer, our Christmas elf in real person." Huth sat back comfortably in his armchair, his silhouette sharp against the blinking light of the fire, smoking a cigarette at ease. His uniform was,as always, resplendent. Archer saw that Huth secretly pushed away the box with the Christmas balls with the tip of his boot.

Huth mocked Archer with his crystal blue eyes.

Typically Huth, Archer thought. He couldn’t  remember that he had heard him come in. Huth, always hidden in the shadow to suddenly pop up again.

Huth still remained mysterious in his own way. “Enigmatic”, Archer remembered saying this against Kellerman  a long time ago. 

"I thought that Germans were fond of Christmas, but apparently you are the proverbial exception," Archer answered amusedly. He had no intention of letting himself be hunted by Huth. 

"And secretly," continued Archer, "do you really like it, even if you're doing your best to keep me away from decorating the Christmas tree."

Huth said nothing but looked at Archer with that intense gaze. It was a look that frightened many for those who didn’t know him, but Archer knew better by now. He became fascinated by this glance a long time ago. Or rather, mesmerized.

Bingo, Archer thought. This was a rare moment that he could silence Huth with no spikey response at all.

"Well, you would adorn it," said Archer, "to lend me a hand instead of stopping me from decorating the Christmas tree."

"I don’t  feel anything for it. And why all that trouble for those two days, if there’s anyway  a Christmas party at all? "Huth pressed his cigarette into the ashtray, got up and walked out of the room. 

Archer sighed, shook his head, turned and decorated the tree with the last Christmas balls and ornaments. Together with Douggie he put the final crown on the tree: a beautiful peak, glistening in the warm room light.

Archer and Douggie looked at the result of a hard day's work. From a distance the tree looked beautiful and it recalled memories of the past. Jill would be certainly pleased to see it. For a moment Archer thought wistfully about his wife.

So sad that Oskar couldn’t appreciate this, Archer thought. He already had an idea for a gift, but now he doubted if it was such a good idea after all.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. A walk full of memories

It was a beautiful winter day. It had snowed the days before and the snow provided the landscape with a virgin, white beauty. The sun caused an orange-pink glow at the sky and it gave the landscape a look as if there were ice crystals everywhere. It was almost like a fairytale.

In this desolate environment two figures walked through the winter landscape. It was Archer and his son Douggie.

They stopped at a group of trees. The sunlight sparkled and it gave the trees a beautiful look of small stars in the branches. There was a small, wintery breeze and this made a playful effect as if starlight shone from the trees.

Douggie looked at his father.

"Do you think about mom?"

"Yes, son."

"Are you sad?"

"Yes, occasionally, Douggie."

"Why? You have someone who loves you. Only _he_ will never say it out loud."

Archer looked at his son with a puzzled look. "How do you know that?"

"Don’t be so blind daddy. Even though he can still seem so haughty, I see how he looks at you. I was afraid of him in the beginning but not anymore."

"Are you afraid that I regret my decision because I chose for him?"

Douggie hesitated for a moment: "No, not that. But I think you're secretly feeling guilty towards mom. "

Archer didn’t have a reply to this. Was this actually true? After the death of Jill he had the greatest difficulty in keeping his head above water and protecting his son from all the evil in the world.

If he hadn’t been summoned that day to investigate the "black market" murder, how could all things had happened differently? He would probably never have met Oskar Huth and it was quite possible that he still spent his days at a London office in an very, very hostile environment.

It was all a combination of circumstances. And the last thing Archer had ever thought is that he would fall for a man. A man who, from time to time, provoked him to the ultimate but could also be incredible tender. A caress about his cheek, the worried look in his blue eyes and the ability to read Archers mind before Archer had spoken the words out loud. And, he was a very good lover. Fingers stroking his leg….higher and higher….

Stop it! Archer noticed that he blushed. After a moment he recovered and said to his son: "Douggie, listen well, boy. I do not regret my decision. You have to do what feels right and this feels good. It did you well too. You have progressed physically since we've been here.” 

Douggie nodded. "It is, I’m feeling much better now since I’m here.”

After a silence he said: “Tell me something about mom and what she did at Christmas."

Archer smiled and began to tell. He said that arranging gifts was always a hell of a job and he was grateful that Jill always took it over from him. His wife always managed to arrange everything, from the gifts to the dinner parties. She also knew exactly what kind of gift she could give to everyone. Archer never had the tact and the patience for it.

"Your mother was a sweet and warm person and she had an eye for everyone she loved," Archer said finally.

Douggie thought about these words. Finally he said: "Have you thought about a gift?"

Archer smiled. "I do have a gift, but I doubt if Oskar would appreciate it. He's been pretty pissed when I start talking about Christmas. "

Archer and Huth hadn’t much spoken to each other since their last argument at the Christmas tree.

"What kind of gift do you have in mind? A new uniform with a new medal? "Douggie asked.

Archer burst out laughing. He gave his son a big hug. "Absolutely not, Douggie. And I'd better not say anything otherwise it won’t be a surprise after all. "

"It will be good, dad, I'm sure. Whatever you give, he will be happy with it. "

"Let's hope so. Come, we'll go back home, it's getting late already. "

**_Evening_ **

Douggie was tired and went to bed early.

Archer walked down the hall to the kitchen and saw something moving from the corner of his eye. In the living room he saw Huth busy with wrapping paper. When Archer looked better he saw that Huth was packing a scarf with the greatest care. But then the most soft and cuddly scarf Archer had ever seen.

It was endearing to see how that tall, slender man was busy with the present, and he heard his son's words again: "You have someone who loves you. Only he will never say it out loud. "

Archer couldn’t suppress a smile. His son was right. Maybe it would still be a beautiful Christmas ....


	3. A day full of surprises

**_Morning_ **

Archer woke up to the smell of fried eggs, bread and bacon. It was a lovely fragrance and he had immediately to think about Jill. He remembered her busy preparing the Christmas breakfast. For a moment he became a little bit melancholic, just for a minute.

How could Huth possibly know that eggs and bacon with bread were his favorite Christmas breakfast? But he wasn’t surprised anymore. Huth simply had the ability that he could read people. Anticipating on a particular situation could Huth like the best.

He washed himself, get dressed, and walked to Douggie's bedroom. To his surprise he saw that the bedroom was empty. Was Douggie already up? Normally Archer had the greatest difficulty getting his son out of bed. What happened all of a sudden here?

Archer walked down the stairs where the delicious smell of freshly baked food came to meet him. Douggie was together with Huth busy with breakfast. Archer watched this enchanting scene with a surprised look. Huth stood behind the stove and was just about to throw a new portion of eggs with bacon into the pan. Douggie helped him to bring the full plates to the dining room.

Archer was always used to seeing Huth in uniform, but on this day he was dressed in ordinary clothes: a pair of trousers and a rough, gray-green turtleneck that stood out particularly well and made his strong and slender figure look good.

Douggie was the first to notice him: "Good morning dad, merry Christmas to you!"

Huth turned and looked at Archer with a smile. He had a certain shimmer in his eyes that Archer had never seen before and it gave him a tingling sensation. "There we have our long sleeper, finally!"

"I woke up from that wonderful smell," Archer replied. "And I’m starving! Why didn’t you wake me up earlier? "

"It had to be a surprise dad," Douggie said. "And did we not succeed?"

Huth gave Douggie a wink. "One of the first surprises," he replied mysteriously.

Archer looked at both of them. "I get the feeling that a lot is going to happen today."

Douggie replied: "Just wait and see dad. We're going to make it a funny day!"

And that was true. The tea stood ready (Archer's favorite taste) and they enjoyed the delicious breakfast. Another one of those things he hadn’t expected from Huth. His partner was and remained a mystery to him. But this was certainly a pleasant feature. Archer glanced at him. For his doing Huth looked relaxed and happy, as if he had thrown a certain layer of armor away from him.

Suddenly Huth looked at Archer and he felt that he was blushing. "Douglas, everything allright?" Huth asked. Archer nodded insecure and caught that look in the ice-blue eyes that had a mixture of pleasure and affection. Huth smiled and concentrated on his breakfast again.

Something is hanging in the air, Archer thought. Maybe I should indeed let it happen to me. And why not? He had the people around him he loved.

He was thinking about the gift he had in mind for Huth. Could he appreciate it?

 

**_Afternoon_ **

Douggie was right. It became a funny and relaxing day. Archer couldn’t remember when he had experienced such a day for the last time. The last few years it had become a second nature of him to keep looking over his shoulder and protecting his son. Archer had to admit that this was a very pleasant feeling and he fully enjoyed it.

The winter sun did its best to make the snowy landscape sparkle like a fairytale scene.

Near the house was Douggie busy making a snowman. Archer took his coat and wanted to go outside to keep Douggie company.

"Douglas, Douglas!" Huth called. "Where is my cane? Where are my medals? I'm sure I left them here. " And suddenly angrily, "Oh, great. Give Douggie a creative half hour. Thanks a lot!"

Wondering why Huth reacted so angry, Archer walked outside. Then he burst out laughing.

The snowman had an old jacket (thank God not Huth's uniform tunic) and Douggie had apparently caught Huth's cane and medals in an unguarded moment and pinned them on the old jacket. For the uniform hat Douggie had found an old cap somewhere and planted it on the head of the snowman.

"Well dad, what do you think?" Douggie looked triumphantly at his father.

"My dear son, what on earth did _you_ think?" replied Archer amusedly, rather than angry.

"I hope that Oskar doesn’t mind," Douggie suddenly hesitated. "But I found the snowman with just the jacket too ordinary. And those medals are so beautiful. "

Huth was proud of his medals and polished them regularly.

"Listen Douggie. I can appreciate the joke but I don’t know if Oskar is so happy with it. "

He saw Huth approaching from the distance. "You can tell him yourself, son."

Douggie looked at his father with a frightened look. Poor Douggie, Archer thought. This was certainly not the intention.

Huth had come closer to them, his face like an ice cold mask.

"Douggie!" He started angrily. "Listen, you were very helpful this morning, but you should absolutely not ..." _Smash!_

Douggie looked surprised at his father and then at Huth whose face could no longer be seen through a full layer of snow. Then he started laughing involuntarily.

Archer saw Huth's ice-blue eyes piercing through the white snow.

"Aha ..." said Huth with a lowering voice, "if that is what you want?" Before Douggie and Archer even realized they both had a snowball right in their faces. Huth was incredibly fast and agile for such a tall man.

And so it became an old-fashioned battle between England and Germany with a lot of laughter and many snowballs. Meanwhile, the snowman was left to his fate.

 

**_Evening - gifts moments_ **

Douggie was sleeping for a few hours, totally exhausted of the snowball fight. But not before he and Huth had a good chat about the 'snowman incident.' At first Archer was afraid that Huth would tackle Douggie too hard, but that fear wasn’t needed. He heard a lot of whispering and laughter at his son’s  bedroom.

Huth came downstairs, smiling, watched Archer with an amused look and walked to the living room. The presents were already under the Christmas tree, eagerly waiting to be packed out.

This time it was Archer's turn to cook for dinner. The memories of his deceased wife hit him again. In silence he had a conversation with her. “I know what you possibly thinking. But I am happy and our son has never looked so good, Jill.”

The food was fantastic. Archer wasn’t a good cook but he could prepare a good piece of meat as the best.

After dinner they went together to the living room. The fire spreaded a soft, warm glow which made the Christmas tree even more beautiful with all its shimmering decorations.

Douggie was burning with curiosity what kind of gift he might get. "Be patient, Douggie," Archer reminded his son.

Huth was the first to take his package under the tree and gave it to Archer.

"You know," he began hesitantly, "I’ve never had so much with Christmas. It reminded me too much of my father. He was very traditional and he hadn’t an open mind for new ideas. I don’t have good memories of Christmas. Forgive me Douglas for my misbehavior a few days ago but I was….jealous."

Archer said nothing. Douggie looked confusedly from the one to the other.

"But this time it feels different. Because I am now together with the people I lo…., I care about.” Huth quickly corrected himself. "Please Douglas, this is for you and I hope you like it."

Archer looked at the wrapped gift and remembered the night he saw Huth busy with the package. He started to unpack it carefully. It was a beautiful, scarlet scarf of the softest wool he had ever known. At the end of the scarf there were beautiful fringes woven together. Archer had never received such a luxurious gift before. He was speechless. Their eyes met each other. He might be seeing some relief in Huth’s eyes, but also joy. “Thank you Oskar”, he said silently and he felt that tingling sensation in his body again.

Archer warned his son: "If you use this scarf as a decoration for your snowman, then you and I have a very, big problem." Huth smiled.

Douggie couldn’t contain himself anymore. "Yes dad but please, please, can I now have my gift? Please!"

Huth said, "All right, impatient boy. Just go to the attic! There is your gift. " Archer looked at Huth in surprise. "Trust me, Douglas," whispered Huth.

A little later they heard Douggie calling from the attic. "Dad! Oskar! Come upstairs! This is amazing!" They both hurried to the attic. Archer was stunned what he found there. A real telescope. "How did you get that?" he asked Huth.

"A remnant from a depot of the Wehrmacht somewhere in London."

“And how did you get it here?”

“Don’t ask,” answered Huth mysteriously. “Sometimes it’s better that something must remain secret.”

"Can I please stay upstairs for a moment, dad? I'll be back down soon," Douggie begged. "Okay, but not too long," replied his father. “It’s too cold on the attic.”

Back in the living room, Archer turned and kissed Huth tenderly. He said: "For a long time I have doubted about a gift, but now I think I’ve made the right choice."

Archer took a package from under the tree and gave it to Huth.

Huth carefully opened it. In his hands he held a gramophone recording of a piano concerto by Mozart. " _Unglaublich_ , _das ist ja wunderbar_ ," he replied in German.

Huth put the gramophone record on the player. The living room filled with music and Archer saw some kind of change to Huth. It seemed like he was in another world Archer had never known.

Huth closed his eyes and let himself dance to the music. Another side of him that I'm not used to, Archer thought. Oskar Huth, the cold, haughty and brutally efficient SS officer who became completely captivated by classical music.

After a while Huth opened his eyes, full of emotion. "This was the best gift you ever gave to me," he whispered. Then he took Archer in his arms and kissed him back, long and warm.


	4. In dreams.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter I came up with the idea based on a short story by the Dutch writer Chantal van Gastel. It is called, very appropriate: “A Christmas promise (in Dutch: Een Kerstbelofte).” In this Dutch short story someone must continue after the loss of her loved one. And this is very beautiful, with a little supernatural touch, described.

Archer woke up. It was three o'clock in the morning. Huth was sleeping next to him, his strong arm wrapped around Archer's waist, protecting him in a strange, enchanting world.

He studied Huth's face. Even in his sleep Huth looked comfortable and happy. It had been a wonderful day with the highlight of giving the gifts. Archer's scarlet scarf was showing off on the side table next to the bed. Douggie found the telescope so much exciting until Archer told him that he had to come down, because otherwise he could forget his second surprise, a bar of chocolate.

Archer carefully caressed Huth's angular face with the sharp nose and small lips that could kiss so passionately. He thought of the moment when Huth pulled him in his arms and began to kiss him until Archer was going to lose his mind. Just in time he could bring out "Think of Douggie" after which Huth reluctantly stopped. Later in bed, however, Huth went on caressing, teasing and kissing, bringing Archer to a climax.

Why did he wake up? Archer suddenly remembered his dream. He had dreamed about Jill. Most of the dreams Archer forgot again, only vague spots in his memories.

But this dream he could remember very well. He had a loving conversation with Jill on a beautiful summerday. She was wearing a summer dress and she looked happy. She said how proud she was of him that he had brought up his son so well in these dark times. "You are a light for our son. Douggie sees you as your great example. "

Archer was emotional by her words. He remembered himself saying to Jill: "If only you could be us for one day. Then you would see how fantastic our son is doing."

"I already look at you every day and at times when you don’t even notice. You do it well, Douglas, and don’t forget that you have someone who cares about you but doesn’t say it out loud. Don’t feel guilty about it."

Archer remembered Douggie's words during their snow walk. "You talk like our son."

"Your son has a better radar for this than you sometimes." Jill began to fade. "I have to go, dear Douglas. Please don’t worry about me. Take good care of our son. And remember, I'm never far away."

And suddenly she was gone, leaving Archer behind with a sense of emptiness until the moment he woke up.

Thinking back to this dream, Archer noticed that his eyes were damp and that the tears ran down his cheeks. Oh Jill, he thought sadly.

Through the window he looked up to the sky. And then he saw it: a star in the sky that sparkled a little brighter than the other stars. Hello Jill, he thought in silence. I'm doing well. Thank you that you watch over us. I’m feeling so relieved.

Then he turned to Huth who was still asleep, unaware of Archers emotional struggle. Archer kissed the tip of his nose. Huth sighed and pulled Archer even closer to him.

It will be fine, Archer thought. Everything will be alright. When you believe.

He whispered softly to Huth: "Merry Christmas Oskar."

"Merry Christmas Douglas," Huth murmured back sleepily.

Moments later, Archer fell asleep again, the most blissful sleep since time.


End file.
